Newspaper delivery receptacle



July 29, 1958 F. e. JACQUES 2,845,217

NEWSPAPER DELIVERY RECEPTACLE Filed April 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I E win's G.J lees,

July 29, 1958 F. G. JACQUES NEWSPAPER DELIVERY RECEPTACLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 14, 1955 laweezi'ofl 1 5 mm 5 a-Jacgaes, 0 M

uqffoflaeg United States Patent NEWSPAPER DELIVERY RECEPTACLE Francis G. Jacques, West Roxbury, Mass.

Application April 14, 1955, Serial No. 501,243

' Claims. (Cl. 232-39 papers, but also adaptable to receive mail, pamphlets,

I and small packages.

In towns and suburban areas, where houses are close enough together to make direct delivery of newspapersto subscribers homes practicable, a delivery boy ordinarily covers his route on a bicycle or on foot. Where a house is close enough to the street he deposits the paper in front of the door. If a house is set back some distance from the street he often attempts to throw the rolled paper as close to the house as possible instead of taking the time to go up to the door. In either case the paper is left exposed to the weather until the householder picks itup. As a result papers frequently are received by the subscriber in wet and mutilated condition, and subscribers often have to go out in stormy weather to look for a paper which has been blown away or carelessly thrown.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a receptacle which can be mounted outdoors in a location convenient for delivery of newspapers and similar articles,

and which holds the articles securely and keeps them dry and intact until the householder picks them up.

Other objects are to provide a receptacle which gives an indication when a delivery has been made, and which the householder can bring into the house without having to go outdoors. Other advantages and novelfeatures of the device will be apparent from the description which follows.

The device consists'in general of a containen preferably of tubular shape, having an open end, and a closed tapered end, and having means in its interior for gripping a newspaper or similar article securely. The container is mounted by separable connections on a post convenient to the street or side walk, with a cord or chain attached to its tapered end and leading to thehouse.

In the drawings illustrating the invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the receptacle mounted outside a house; i

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the receptacle, portions being shown in longitudinal cross-section;

Fig. 2a shows an alternative form for the holder spring;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the receptacle;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the receptacle;

Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken along line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a perspective detail of the rear connection;

Fig. 7 is a front view of a modified form of connection for mounting the holder; and I Fig. 8 is a side view, partly in section, of the receptacle with a modified form of holder.

The container, which may be made of any suitable weather-resistant material, such as sheet metal or plastic, has a tubular body 10, open at the left-hand end, and a conical right-hand end 11. The body is shown as cylindrical in cross-section but may be elliptical or other suitable shape affording a relatively smooth junction with a tapered end. A cord 12 is attached to end 11, and runs body by a short leaf spring 43 which is similar to spring 28. with the bowed portion 30 omitted. r

in to some location near the house, where it may be attached, for example, by means of a hook 13 engagin g an tial corrugations 15 and 16, which serve the dual purpose of stifiening the container near its open'end and providing internal troughs totrap any water which might'enter the open end. The corrugations also deflect waterrunning down the outside so that it willnot tend to flow into the open end. An angular bracket 17, which supports the container, is mounted on a post 18, or may be mounted on a-tree;or gate post. Mounted on the top of the container body is a short piece of rod 19, disposed longitudinally on ;the

b0dy, and a ring 20, disposed transversely'of the-body. A leaf spring 21, having bowed side portions and reentrant legs 22 and 23, is attached to the forward endof the bracket, and a rearwardly projecting hook 24. is attached to the rear part of the bracket. When the container is in place, ready to receive delivery, rod 19 is engaged between legs 22 and 23, and ring 20 engages over hook 24. A pin 32 is mounted in rod 19 with its ends projecting to keep the receptacle from sliding back with respect to the bracket. It is understood that the bracket is so mounted that the open end of the containerwill face toward the street, or sidewalk, which is referred to as the front or forward direction. The containenwhen thus in place on the bracket, may be horizontal, but preferably has a slight downward tilt toward the front-so that water entering the open end wills-run outf: Weep holes may also be provided in the bottomsof corrugations 15and16.. A number of coil springs 25 are mounted toproject across the open end of the container, and have free ends disposed toward its central axis. Four springs are'here shown, but more or fewer may be employed. These springs will readily bend back to allow a newspaper :or

other article to be pushed into the container, but are sufliciently stiff to keep light objects such as letters from falling .out. Further back in the container visdisposeda holder 26, of metal or other stiif material, which is shaped is shown as attached by means of a pair of rivets27;. to

a leaf spring 28 the forward end 29 of which isattached to the container. The spring 28 slopes downward toward the bottom of the container and has a rear leg 30 which projects upward. The free end 31 of this leg is normally spaced a short distance from the top of the container and is bent forward parallel to the containerwall, so that it will slide back easily along the wall when it engages the latter. When a rolled newspaper is pushed in from the front it engages the holder 26 and turnsiitlupward. toward a-horizontal position. The end ;31 .of'the spring strikes the top wall of the container andslides back as the spring is flattened. As the pressure of the holder on the newspaper becomes progressively greater asthe spring is flexed, this arrangement gives a firmer grip 'on large papers than on smaller ones and will thus securely hold a fairly heavy newspaper. 1.13 ,In Fig. 2a the holder 26 is connected to thecontainer Toward the rear ofthe holder a" coil spring is mounted in somewhat the same manner as one of the springs 25, and acts as a stop for short newspapers so that they will not be pushed too far back in the holder and become jammed in the container. A long newspaper can be pushed past spring 34 by applying a little extra force.

In preparation for receiving deliveries, the container is connected to the bracket 17 by engaging ring 20 over hook 24 and snapping rod 19 into position between legs 22 and 23 of spring 21. As the delivery boy inserts articles in the container, the ends of pin 32 will engage spring 21, so that the receptacle will not slide back and drop otf. After the paper is inserted, the boy gives the receptacle a slight downward push, disengaging rod 19 from the legs of spring 21. The container will then rotate on hook 24 to hang in the position indicated by the dotted line 35 in Fig. 1, because of the fact that the longer part of the container and the major weight of the contents lie forward of ring 20. In this position the contents are well shielded from rain or snow. Holder 26 retains the newspaper, and springs serve to retain mail and small packages which are too short to be gripped by the holder, as previously explained. Spring 34 prevents short papers from going back too far and upsetting the balance of the device. The tilted position of the container indicates to the householder that a delivery has been made. By pulling on cord 12 he disengages ring 20 from hook 24 and pulls the container into the house. The tapered end 11 permits the container to be dragged easily along the ground without catching on stones, grass or other irregularities. Obviously, the container could be pulled up in the same manner to a window or entrance above the first floor.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7, a large spring 36, similar in shape to spring 21 and having bowed, reentrant legs 37 and 38, is mounted on the forward end of bracket 17. The legs of this spring grip the body 10 of the receptacle. Preferably the bracket is so proportioned that the spring legs embrace the receptacle just back of corrugation 16. The latter will thus serve as a stop to keep the receptacle from sliding back as the newspaper is inserted. The receptacle can be disengaged from the spring by a slight downward push.

In Fig. 8 a modified form of attachment for the paper holder is shown. The holder 26 is hinged to the receptacle body, for example by lugs 39 rotatably engaging pins 40. A bracket 41 is attached to the top of the body, and a coil spring 42 is attached to the .bracket and bears against the back of the holder. Other'spring arrangements may also be employed to press the holder down.

This device insures that the newspaper is received by the subscriber in good condition and spares the householder the inconvenience and discomfort of going outdoors in stormy weather. Furthermore, the receptacle results in a considerable saving to a concern delivering newspapers. One delivery boy can cover a larger territory as he need not take time to go into long driveways or entrance walks. If the rectacle is placed at the proper height, he can insert the paper without dismounting from the bicycle. Likewise, if deliveries are made by automobile, proper placing of the receptacle close to the road allows the driver to make deliveries without getting out of the car. In areas where houses are too scattered and far from the road to be serviced economically at present, use of devices such as that here disclosed will materially reduce the cost of deliveries, so that delivery service can be profitably extended into such areas.

What is claimed is:

1. A supported receptacle for receiving deliveries of articles such as newspapers, envelopes and the like, comprising an elongate container having an open end and a closed end, a support for said container, first co-acting means on said support and container for detachably pivotally mounting the closed end portion of the container on said support, second co-acting means on said support and container for releasably mounting the open end portion of the container on the support with the longitudinal axes of the container generally in a horizontal plane, whereby said container may swing by gravity about the pivot at said first co-acting means to a position in which the closed end of the container becomes disposed at a substantially higher elevation than the open end in response to release of the container at said second coacting means, and a resilient clamp within said container for clamping an article inserted within said container through the open end thereof and for holding said article against dropping out of the container when its said open end swings downwardly.

2. A supported receptacle as defined in claim 1, wherein said first co-acting means consists of a hook on one and an eye on the other of said support and container, and said second co-acting means comprises resilient arms on one of said support and container for yieldingly gripping a portion of the other one of said support and container and releasable by downward pressure on said open end portion of the container.

3. A supported receptacle as defined in claim 1, wherein said container has generally cylindrical form, and said closed end thereof has generally tapering form, and a flexible linear element connected to said closed end and leading to a remote location for detaching the container from said support at said first co-acting means in response to pull on said element at said remote location, said container being then free to drop from the support to the ground and to be drawn along the ground to said remote location by means of said element with said tapered end constituting a nose for guiding the container past obstacles in the path of travel of the drawn container.

4. A supported receptacle as defined in claim 1, wherein said container has generally cylindrical form, with its said closed end tapering generally to a point, and wherein said first co-acting means consists of a hook fixed on said support and an eye fixed on said closed end portion of said container, said second co-acting means comprising a resilient clamp on said support for releasably gripping a portion of said container, and a flexible linear element connected to the point of said closed end of the container and leading to a remote location, the open side of said hook being open generally toward said remote location whereby said eye on the container may be drawn ofi said hook in response to a pull on said element at said remote location when said open end portion of the container is preliminarily released from said clamp, said container being then free to drop from the said support to the ground with its said pointed end constituting a nose for guiding the container past obstacles in its path to said remote location.

5. A supported receptacle as defined in claim 1, wherein said first and second co-acting means are coordinated for mounting said container on said support with its said open end slightly lower than its closed end whereby any water getting into the container will drain out through said slightly lower open end of the container in its mounted generally horizontal condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 307,761 Harger Nov. 11, 1884 714,409 Shuttleworth Nov. 25, 1902 917,428 Graham Apr. 6, 1909 926,613 Sheets June 29, 1909 998,194 McGloudy July 18, 1911 1,904,448 Hampden Apr. 18, 1933 2,102,620 Gilman Dec. 21, 1937 2,532,289 Cahill Dec. 5, 1950 

